VAN NUYS, Calif. -- Re-creating Scranton on the West Coast is just another day at "The Office" for the crew of the NBC comedy series.

The exterior of the Scranton Business Park is filmed so the sign for Chandler Valley Center Studios is not visible. Cars in the parking lot carry Pennsylvania license plates, and there's a spot reserved for R. Vance, president of Vance Refrigeration, another tenant in the building that houses the Scranton branch of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Co., setting for "The Office."

Last month inside the warehouse set -- filled with empty boxes -- the cast and producers discussed their plans for the new season, beginning Thursday (9 p.m., WPXI), which includes the wedding of office drones Jim (John Kraskinski) and pregnant Pam (Jenna Fischer).

"Pam is going to be walking down the aisle very soon because she is pregnant but trying to hide that from certain members of her family," Fischer said. "So they're getting married pretty quickly in the fourth episode."

"The Office" began its life as a remake of the original British series of the same name that starred Ricky Gervais, but executive producer Greg Daniels quickly established an identity for the American show that set it apart from its inspiration.

"When I saw the English show, the thing that really excited me was how by being a mockumentary, it kind of took on the energy of reality shows," Daniels said. "And the traditional multi-camera sitcom at that time seemed really phony to me."

In addition to new episodes Thursday nights on NBC, "The Office" begins airing in syndication reruns Sept. 21, including at 7 and 7:30 p.m. locally on WPCW. Observant viewers who tune to the reruns may notice some differences in the first six episodes: The show's first season was filmed on a different studio lot. Once the show was renewed for a second year, production moved to the present location where a nearly identical -- but slightly larger -- set was built. (During a tour of the writers' office, Daniels said he had some difficulty finding a studio in the San Fernando Valley that had not previously been used as a set for making pornographic movies.)

Although the office appears to be on the second floor of the building used as the exterior, that space is occupied by the show's writers. The set for Michael Scott's office is on a nearby soundstage. But filming is occasionally done in the writers' offices when a script calls for a shot of Michael looking out his office window or other employees peering out the conference room windows. (For continuity purposes, the walls in these writers' office match the walls on the show's set.)

Actress Kate Flannery, who plays alcoholic customer relations rep Meredith on the show, gave a group of reporters a tour of the set last month, pointing out all the tiny on-set details that mark the office's North-Central Pennsylvania setting.

A 2007 Entertainment Book for Northeast Pennsylvania/Poconos resides on the desk belonging to salesman Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker). In the office kitchen, magnets for Boscov's and Steamtown National Historic Site cling to the refrigerator. Boxes of Wegmans-brand food -- from the grocer that has locations in Scranton -- also populate the small kitchen set.

"The food is very legitimate here," Flannery said. "If somebody improvises and decides to eat, they will not die."

She pointed out a collection of menus from actual Scranton restaurants and a vending machine full of snack products provided by Nottingham, Pa.-based Herr's.

"Herr's sends us so many potato chips that by the end of every year we actually offer them to everybody in the cast and crew because there's more than we could ever use in an entire season," Flannery said, before gesturing to another part of the set. "Check out the restrooms, please, but don't use them because they're not really plumbed. That's happened once or twice."

Flannery, who said she's the only cast member from Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, specifically), appreciates the look of the show.

"What I love about our set is that it is very Scranton-like," she said. "There's a tow yard across the street. There's a crematorium. And it's a little sketchy, and I feel like that represents a less glamorous neighborhood than most of L.A. I don't know, it's Scranton-adjacent."

Many of the cast members have visited Scranton since the show premiered as a midseason replacement in 2005.

"I actually found Scranton to be beautiful when we went," said Angela Kinsey, who plays frosty accountant Angela Martin on the show. "I was like, 'This looks like a Norman Rockwell painting.' "

In addition to Jim and Pam's wedding, the new season will include out-of-control rumors in Thursday's season premiere, a Dunder Mifflin shareholders meeting later in the season and office paranoia that Michael Scott (Steve Carell) has gotten involved with the mob.

"[When Jim and Pam are on their honeymoon], the coalition of reason is a little weak in the office," Daniels said. "And it comes to everyone's belief that Michael has just met with the mafia and they're extorting him for insurance money."

Michael has no romantic prospects on the immediate horizon, which, depending on the degree of desperation he evinces, may make the character even more sympathetic than usual.

"Even people who are obnoxious and in-your-face or unlikable to most, you know there are other sides and other gray areas to everybody," Carell said. "I always felt he was a guy whose intentions were good and his heart was in the right place, but he just has a disconnect socially."